i wasn't born in a barn, but i got there as fast as i could.

To those of you who haven’t seen this on Facebook or Instagram yet (find me on Instagram @hellomylivia! There’s lots of cute pics of Pretty Girl and my roommate’s adorable dog!), check out what we jumped yesterday.

No seriously, we actually jumped over that! While 3’6″ might not be a big deal to a lot of people, this is the highest I’ve ever jumped in my entire life. Read: THIS IS A HUGE DEAL!!! I don’t usually jump on Mondays, but the assistant trainer (who is one of the best people on earth) had me pop through a small grid while she was there: cavaletti, crossrail, one stride, crossrail. Except every time through she cranked the back fence up a bit until we reached what you see there.

Pretty Girl was perfect! It was such a different sensation: when the jumps are smaller, her front feet are pretty much already on the ground by the time her back feet launch. With this height, there was so much hang time and she really had to crack her back over it. Which in turn cracked my back. I also tended to anticipate and try to jump for her, so I’m definitely going to have to work on that position.

But I did manage to use my automatic release, which made a lot more sense over this height. Now that I’ve started to actually use my muscles instead of flopping around like a salmon trying to spawn, I was able to follow with my hands instead of grabbing mane and reciting Our Father. I think Addy appreciated this: she practically dragged me towards the jumps when I would circle past them. Turns out she really likes the bigger heights! I’ve been boring her with this 2’6″ nonsense.

This was a lot less scary than I thought it would be- I’ve always had a sort of mental block about anything over 3′. Even 3′ seemed a bit overwhelming, and 2’6″ to 2’9″ has been my very comfortable comfort zone.

Now that I’ve seen how much fun she has over this height, there’s no stopping us. We’re still showing in the 2’9″ this weekend, but the move up to 3′ seems like a no-brainer now. And I’m begging and pleading our assistant trainer to come with me to some local jumper shows so I can start moving up there too.

After all, the lowest adult jumper classics I’ve been able to find in the area start at 1.10m (3’7″). And I reeeeally want to wear those white pants I grabbed, so we’ve got to start practicing.

I find position is easier if I have good core strength, and if I focus on what my hands are going (ideally, an auto release) it keeps me from laying on the neck so much, which is my main problem.

Mine is easier over bigger fences, too. It’s like once she actually has to try, she’s much more willing to listen to input rather that just making choices on her own. Congrats on the move up, and have fun with jumpers!

Thanks!!
Amen to the core strength- my abs are super sore today. I know that’s a good thing since it means I was using them, but owwww.
We joke that the smaller jumps are just speed bumps for Addy, you’re totally right about listening to input over the higher jumps.

“Now that I’ve started to actually use my muscles instead of flopping around like a salmon trying to spawn, I was able to follow with my hands instead of grabbing mane and reciting Our Father.”

Cracked. Me. Up.

And I feel ya, I never thought I’d want to jump anything bigger than 3′ (which still makes me nervous) but I have jump a few higher-than-3′ jumps and it’s FUN. Such a cool feeling mid air (and surviving it) with an awesome, confident boosting partner. I want more, too 🙂

Looking at it now I’m having a bit of a freak out, but it didn’t seem so bad when it went up gradually! I was kinda like the frog who didn’t realized he was being boiled because the heat went up so slowly…

Ahh thank you!!! I’m not too worried about timing for the jumper classic- I suspect it won’t happen this year and that’s totally fine. I have a pretty limited show budget so moving up in the levels will definitely take some time. Just enjoying the journey and enjoying having a goal to work towards for now 🙂

Congrats! I literally would have peed my pants unintentionally. I might have jumped almost that high back when I was in college. I have a weird memory of being at a schooling show and my trainer made me hop on her dead quiet 17.3 Appendix jumper for me to get the feel of a different horse. She kept raising and raising one fence. I shouldn’t even say this, but I wasn’t even wearing a helmet. I had on a white visor. When I expressed my concern she said something like, “He could jump over that in his sleep.” Good for you! Yes to video!

Thank you!! Oh man 17.3?! Sounds glorious, I adore the big ones! My professional videographer *cough cough manfriend* is coming to the show this weekend, so hopefully we can crank up the jumps in the warmup ring!

Perfect name!! I don’t think manfriend quite knew what he was getting into when he offered to take pics just the one time, but they always come out so nice! It would be awful of me to waste his talent 😄

He hasn’t told me, but I could see in his eyes that creative expression is extremely important to him. So really, him waking up at 5am to take pics of me at a local schooling show is personal development. You’re welcome, manfriend.